Today, approximately 10 percent of the world's population is older than 60; by 2050, this proportion will have more than doubled. Moreover, the greatest rate of increase is among the oldest old, people 85 and older. Although many older adults remain healthy and productive, this segment of the population is subject to physical and cognitive impairment at higher rates than younger people.

In this talk, Martha E. Pollack, professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, will survey new technologies that incorporate artificial intelligence techniques to support older adults and help them cope with the changes of aging, particularly cognitive decline. She will focus on the use of automated planning, reasoning under uncertainty and machine learning in systems that support extended autonomy.

Pollack is also associate chair of the Department Computer Science and Engineering. She has also been on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh and a research staff member at the AI Center at SRI International. A fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, she recently completed a four-year term as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research.

The lecture will be held in the Interschool Lab on the seventh floor of Schapiro CEPSR (on the Morningside campus) at 11 a.m.